Aphasia
by TheDarkOne000777
Summary: The Avengers find out that SHIELD has been harboring a dark secret, a secret that their current maniacal inmate seems all too familiar with. Will they be able to realize what they have gotten themselves into before it's too late to drag them back from the edge of calamity? Sequel to Empathy Slight OOC rated M for violence, abuse, sexual themes/references
1. Chapter 1

A sudden banging woke the Avengers and all of SHIELD who wasn't already awake. Agents came dashing out of their separate rooms, grabbing weapons and defensive mechanisms. Organized chaos was ensued as people moved to the basement of the Helicarrier. Only when everyone was at the steel door, with the Avengers suited up and Nick Fury at the front of the crowd, did the banging cease. Each avenger in turn looked at each other in utter confusion, except for Natasha Romanov, who was out on an espionage mission to find a trace of Loki's team.

"What the hell was that?" Stark asked. Every person looked to Fury for an answer. Fury looked around, and sighed bringing a hand to the bridge of his nose.

"I don't get paid enough for this shit." He mumbled. "Everyone please stand back," he looked to agents Hill and Coulson. "She's awake."

Words of confusion were shared throughout the crowd as the steel door opened. They were met with a blinding white light. Fury gave the Avengers signal to follow into the white room.

They only took a few steps in before they all stopped simultaneously. A girl sat in the middle of the room. She was curled into a ball, hugging her knees painfully close to her chest. Her face couldn't be seen underneath her arms and her long, sweaty, matted ebony hair. It cascaded around her in filthy, bloody clumps. The skin on her legs and arms were filthy, concealed by grime, sweat, dust and yet more blood. Included were fermenting gashes on her feet and hands. Her nails were severly damaged, leading one to believe that she attempted to claw her way out.

With a glance around the room, the Avengers noticed the bleach-white was stained with red. Smears and hand marks traveled up and down the walls. Bloody footprints and larger puddles were scattered around, telling them that she would try to break out, or even try to walk, but would fail and fall down until she could muster just enough strength to move out of the puddle of her own bloody wastes. It stank of remains and that repulsive red taint each of them loathed with no extent.

Agent Hill moved closer to her. "Please lift your head." She whispered. The girl made no response, so the agent moved even closer. She reached out a hand but immediately the other's head snapped up, a look of wild fear in her eyes of ice, eyes that were surrounded by thick black discs and dripped blood. They were barely able to be seen through the putrid locks of once-beautiful hair. She sprang up and landed flipping her hair out of her eyes. What first looked like a girl, now looked like a woman. However, whatever beauty she may have had was destroyed. She was far too thin. Her emaciated body looked unable to hold her upright. Each of her bones were noticed, as though someone had merely coerced a film of skin over a decomposing skeletal frame. Her ribs pointed out at striking junctures and the joints on her knees and elbows looked sharp enough to stab through glass without shattering the rest of it. She brought her hands close to her chest, stiff and pointed out to defend herself if need-be.

"Oolo te ami nash gala, forn a conyiel metar ont gasl la skalar!" she shouted, her voice deeper than Thor's. Everyone looked at her in confusion. No one had any idea what she was saying, and she looked to frail and damaged to even be able to speak. Multiple gashes on her hands, feet and limbs reopened. The blood flowed endlessly, and yet she spoke with a voice so strong. She repeated her sentence, in the same horrifyingly deep voice.

"What is she saying?" Steve asked Fury and Hill. The looks on their faces proved they were just as lost as the Avengers themselves.

"I think she's speaking Russian. We should see if Natasha can translate when she gets back." Clint assumed.

"You want me to do what?" A female voice asked startling everyone.

"Agent Romanov, are you able to translate what she is saying?" Fury asked, although it sounded more like a demand.

"Whatever she is saying, it's not Russian."

"It is the language of the Dark Elves of Svartlefheim." Thor suddenly exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Point-Break, did you want to speak English for us?" Stark asked sarcastically.

Thor looked lost in thought for a moment, pondering what to tell the Midgardians.

"The Dark Elves lived on another realm, Svartlefheim. It took me a few moments to recognize it, but this is the language that they spoke. However, she is not one of them. No, but it is hard to tell what she truly looks like since she is so dirty. However, I feel that I have seen her somewhere before. I just can't place where." His gaze shifted as he thought back as far as he could for some memory of this disgusting creature.

"Oh, well of course. Let me just get my English to Dark Elf dictionary out so that we can talk to her." Stark spat. "How in the hell are we gonna talk to this person?" He flashed the woman a smile as she backed up to stare down all of them in turn. There was silence as each tried to think of a solution.

Steve walked up to her, smiled and asked, "Can you understand English?"

She narrowed her eyes, but lowered her defensive hands slightly. She glared at him, daring him to do something violent and damaging. She repeated her sentence once more.

"Aww, Cap, she likes you." Stark taunted, but was cut short as she lunged at him with blinding speed, pinning him down, her flattened hand to his throat. She snarled as he tried to move out of her grasp. "Uh, guys? Little help maybe? This psycho bitch is scarier than our own Black Widow."

Natasha gave him the deadliest glare but moved to get the woman off of him. She soothed her with words of peace and no harm to come to her. Surprisingly, she listened, crawled off Stark and stood in a defensive stance once again.

Thor made a noise to speak, but his words were lost in his throat.

"What was that, Thor?" Bruce asked, not taking his eyes off of the woman.

"The All-Tongue."

"The what?" Fury asked.

"It could be the only way of understanding her. The All-Tongue is a form of Asgardian magic. It allows any who wield it to speak and understand the language of any they encounter."

"So? Do you want to use this almighty tongue of yours and help us out here?" Clint asked.

"I am not the one who possesses it." He whispered. "There is only one in all of the nine realms who is still able to use it."

"So, then bring them here! We need this person to tell us what the fuck she's saying before she goes and kills someone other than Stark!" Fury tried his very best not to shout.

Bruce, Clint and Natasha began to realize Thor's predicament. They looked to him with disbelief and doubt.

"He is already here. The one who possesses the All-Tongue is my brother. Loki was the only one able to master such magic."


	2. Chapter 2

Silence passed over each person in the bleach-white room in shrouds. They needed to seek out the help of their worst enemy at the moment.

"Excuse me? I'm a little confused here. Um, why do we even need to help her out anyway? Oh, and another thing, while I have your attention Nick, why is she here, in the basement of SHIELD, in the first place?" Stark asked the director.

Fury looked at Hill and Coulson who remained silent throughout the entire episode.

"We'll tell you momentarily. Right now, we'll have to bring her to Loki"

"But Sir!" Coulson rejected, "You know as well as I do that it is not a good idea to bring the two together again!"

"Again?" Steve caught his words.

"Shit." Coulson grumbled.

"Romanov, Rogers, please escort her and get her cleaned up. Then take her to Loki's cell" Fury commanded "The rest of you, come with me to the Surveillance Chamber. We should all see how this will play out."

Each person did as they were told. After much coaxing and the promise of new quarters outside of the white metal cell she was held in previously, the woman followed the two assigned to her. She lightly held onto Steve's hand as they brought her to Natasha's own quarters to bathe and get some new clothes. The ones she was wearing now were far too thin and small for her own liking. The fabric that seemed to constitute as a shirt, barely covered her chest, but all of her frayed, matted and nauseatingly sordid black hair shielded the entirety of her back. The skirt-like garment only came down to the top of her thigh. Steve noticed that she moved trying to cover herself in any discreet way. He appreciated her sense of decency even in this circumstance. Steve waited outside while Natasha brought the woman to be cleansed. But, as he watched them enter the room, he discerned that she walked with the grace of a goddess.

"Would you mind if I lent you some of my own clothes? You really shouldn't be amongst boys dressed like that. And, I know what it's like. Not knowing what is happening around you, not being able to understand what people are saying. Being afraid of what they may do to you. Feeling so lost, abandoned, like your life is in jeopardy at every turn. I know the agony and despair of loneliness like you have endured." The woman stood in the door to the bathroom paying sharp attention to every word Natasha said. Natasha handed her a pair of black pants, a black tank top and a towel.

"Sorry, the shower is right in there. Just get changed in there, then we'll bring you to Loki. Hopefully then we'll be able to understand each other better." She gave the woman a rare, genuine smile as the woman left to bathe. The red-haired assassin did not realize how acutely this newcomer truly understood the words of her past.

"You look much better now that you are all cleaned up." Steve commented after Natasha and the woman exited Natasha's chambers. He was even using a drastic understatement. Now that he could clearly see her, the woman was truly beautiful. Her skin was pale, fairer than ivory and shone, even on her bare feet, which were small and dainty like those of a princess. Her body, previously emaciated, was slim and her bones were not nearly as prominent as they had been. Her chest, was rather on the large side, but was proportionate. Her face was elegantly cut, with cheekbones protruding ever so slightly. Her long pin-straight ebony hair shone as the wet locks cascaded down her back. The woman narrowed her eyes, full of blazing ice, but didn't do anything more as Steve took her hand again. He noticed the cuts on her hand had healed over already, and there were no scars to show that they were once sliced beyond suitable repair. In fact, her entire body was like that, he noticed as slight shimmers of green washed away from her feet. Natasha got on her ear communicator with Fury.

"We've got her prepared to meet with the prisoner. Bringing her to him now."

"Copy that Agent Romanov."

"So why, exactly, is she here again?"

"Quiet Man of Iron, I wish to see what shall ensue."

"We are right here if you need us." Steve whispered as he brought her into Loki's cell. Said god was asleep in his chair at the moment and didn't notice the three new people standing before him. The two Avengers left her to stand outside of the cell as the doors closed tightly. The woman stood still. She stared at the man sitting in the chair. Her face showed no expression, and her eyes were blank. Those watching were growing impatient.

"YO! Rock of Ages!" Stark's voice rang out over the intercom, jerking the god awake.

"Gah-! What the Hel? I can't-"He stopped as he saw the woman standing before him. "What trickery is this?" he half-whispered, half-spat. He slowly rose from his chair and advanced towards her. "This is not real. You are dead. You died in my arms that night, and yet you stand before me. No. This is either a dream, or _He_ has tortured me to insanity. Perhaps I am dead myself? No. I would not be blessed with that much."

"What did he just say?" Stark asked.

"We believe that these two had a previous connection. We had assumed that this woman was a trigger for Loki's oncoming wish to take over the Earth. She must have angered him in some way, perhaps something similar to what he says to us. He took this as an insult from Earth entirely and now thinks that he must prove his power. However, after all of that, we found her, alive, but in a comatose state. So, we brought her here, and kept her down in the basement floor of the Helicarrier. Until now, when she has woken up from it all." Coulson recapped.

Tony whistled. "Woah."

"It is impossible. There is no way in any of the nine realms that you are her. So then, you will tell me one thing," he grabbed her arms and bored into her eyes "Who are you?"

"Oolo te nash gala, forn a conyiel metar ont gasl la scalar." She said.

At this, he released her as though her bare skin had burned him. His eyes were wide, filled with shock, and brimming with tears.

"Te ali no ma ri so qit nu gonara." He whispered in an equally deep voice, deeper than his own.

"What is happening? What are they saying?" Bruce asked Thor.

"I know not. I cannot even tell if it is good or bad."

Steve turned to Natasha for more answers. But she had none. Thor's voice came over the intercom this time.

"Brother, what does she say?" Loki did not hear him and continued to speak to the woman.

"No ano ee jin para tye ula norza con tithi enteley."

At this the woman shook her head and smiled. What happened next left everyone's mouth agape. Loki pulled the woman into a tight embrace, attacking her lips first. After a few brief seconds, he grabbed her and pulled her close to his chest whispering feverishly into her hair. Obviously he hadn't noticed the two people staring through the glass cage. But now he did, and his actions at noticing them shocked the agents even further. He brought the woman behind himself, shielding her from any oncoming danger that the two gawkers could bring.

"Woah." Stark repeated.

"Loki, calm down. We're not here to hurt her. We just want to help her." Steve tried to persuade the god. Loki responded with a growl. Fury's voice was now on the intercom.

"Agent Romanov, remove the woman from the prisoner."

"She has a name!" Loki roared angrily. The woman whispered something in his ear and he immediately calmed down, but was still suspicious and angry at the humans. Natasha moved to the door of the cage, but was stopped when she saw the look the woman was giving her. Her blue eyes were imploring, and wretched but no tears were nearly in existence. The woman turned Loki around to face her. She took his hand and sat him down in his seat again. She whispered something in the Dark Elf language again, smiled and walked out of the cell of her own accord. Loki's head nodded down onto his chest and he closed his eyes, lost in his thoughts once again.


	3. Chapter 3

Once she was out of the cage, Steve took her hand and led her out of the room, leaving Natasha behind to interrogate Loki.

"So, you can communicate with her." She began. Loki lifted his head to meet her gaze and hold the conversation.

"Yes."

"What did she say to make you react so affectionately?"

Loki laughed at this. "I'm sorry, Agent Romanov, but love is not just for children. Where I am from, the concept of 'love' is taken much more seriously and is one of the highest governing powers. In fact, if one were to ignore her power, they would surely be sent to their own personal Hell for doing so."

"You have not answered my question. Answer my question, Loki."

"Very well. She merely told me the same thing she told you. However, it seems that you were deaf to what she was trying to relay."

"And, what exactly, was that?"

Loki's grin faded as he took on a serious persona.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? You spend all your time lecturing us about how great you are. About how this planet will by yours and yours alone. How you are so much greater than us in your 'godly' glory. So what was she saying?"

"She was asking where I was. To quote her directly, she was asking you 'Where is he? What happened to the one who saved me? What have you done to him?' She also confirmed that when you brought her to me. And for that, I am grateful."

"Hm." Was her only response. Feeling their conversation over, Loki leaned forward and closed his eyes to be enveloped in his thoughts once again. Natasha left to rejoin the others with a swish of her hair and the click of her heels.

When Steve and the woman entered the Surveillance Chamber, they were met with the oddest looks. Thor looked upon her with a beaming smile and happiness threatening to bubble over. Stark looked as though he may throw up. Clint looked like he wanted to kill someone. Fury was as cold and pissed-off as ever. But Banner came up to her with a look of concern.

"How do you two know each other?" he asked her.

"De ani no mana aro con noc were hi otn gi rok." She replied in the foreign tongue.

"Well dammit!" Stark bellowed "How the hell are we supposed to talk to her now without Reindeer Games to translate?"

"Watch your mouth Stark! It's not her fault that she can't speak to us in English." Steve defended her.

"Steve, she was just making out with Loki! Remember him? The one who tried to get all of Germany to kneel? The one who possessed multiple people to do his dirty work?" Clint asked his voice rising.

"So you think that she could be siding with Loki? She just met the guy and you think they are already partners. That doesn't seem likely, even if they shared a moment of . . . intimacy." Bruce piped up.

The woman watched all of this arguing ensue before her with no emotion on her face. As they continued to quarrel, she softly and gracefully padded over to the monitor showing a view of Loki now sitting alone in his cage. She stopped and stared at them to get their attention. She waited for all eyes to be looking upon her, then raised her fist and punched cleanly through the monitor. Removing her hand, only slightly covered in blood, she gave a stern look to the Avengers.

"I don't think she's siding with Loki." Steve breathed as he and the others were in shock as to what she just did. He received nods and murmurs of agreement as the woman smiled at them.

"So, what is your name?" Steve asked. The woman stopped smiling and stared at him once again, not giving any other response.

"Name? My name is Steve. What is your name?" He repeated. The woman continued to stare, and slowly dropped her gaze to the floor. Tony and Bruce pulled him aside.

"She can't understand you. So you should stop making an ass of yourself old-timer."

"She could have been so traumatized from her experiences that she doesn't know." Bruce concluded. Then, the others joined in the conversation, turning away from the woman.

"I know this woman. Her name is Sigyn. She is from Asgard and was the lost princess of our world. We finally found her when she and Loki found each other." Thor reminisced, the smile impossible to wipe from his face.

"Fat chance." Fury interjected "There is no fucking way this bitch is a god, and I don't want another romance novel written under the roof of my aircraft." He shot a look towards Natasha and Clint.

"Love is for children, I owe him a debt."

Everyone, excluding Natasha, Thor and the woman, rolled their eyes at the recorded message, as Steve scolded Fury for his distasteful tongue.

"Well then, what are we going to do? Should we give her a new name?" Clint asked. He pitied this woman for having any history at all with the mind-controlling bastard.

"Brooke." Came a soft, sweet but silence-demanding voice from behind them. They all turned to look at the woman who seemed to be having a difficult time sorting out her present thoughts.

"My. Name. Is. Brooke." She tried still looking at the floor and her bare feet. She looked up at them, with pleading eyes full of confusion, and made eye contact with each person in the room. Steve was the first to break the ice.

"Well it's good to meet you, Brooke. As I told you already, my name is Steve."

"Steve." She repeated.

"That there is Tony"

"'Sup?"

"Tony."

"The woman you already met is Natasha." Natasha nodded and smiled.

"Na, tash, a."

"Next to her, in black, is Clint."

"Hi."

"Clint."

"In the lenses is Bruce."

"Hello"

"Bruce."

"And the one with the hammer, that's Thor."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Brooke."

She tensed and stepped back warily as the memory of being taken to Asgard by him caused her a feeling of uneasiness and distrust.

"Well, now that you have all been introduced, Agent Romanov, since you're the only woman, would you mind sharing a room with her while she is learning her way and until we can make better arrangements?"

"Yes sir." She took Brooke's hand. "Come with me, Brooke, there's no need to be afraid."

"Tasha." She responded. Normally, the assassin would have slapped or, if the case needed, shot anyone who called her that to the ground. However, it sounded nice coming from this strange woman, like something a little sister would say to her, if she ever had one. So, she simply smiled a false smile and brought Brooke away to the room they would now share.


	4. Chapter 4

Once they were inside, Natasha suddenly felt some odd new feeling come over her. It was foreign and positive, something that an assassin, raised in a room of red in the frozen abyss of Russia. As she gazed at the tangled ebony hair, she felt the particularly feminine need to brush it. Locking the door, so as not to be disturbed and discovered for this very unorthodox action, she retrieved a brush from her bathroom.

"Brooke, do you mind if I brush out your hair?" She asked. Brooke gave no verbal answer, or indignation that she had understood, but smiled instead. So, Natasha sat her, cross-legged, on the bed, while sitting behind her, and proceeded to brush out her hair. It took little effort, the tangles seemed to obey her every command. But, as she pulled back a strand of hair from Brooke's neck, a rough and jagged red line caught her eye. When she moved to get a closer look, she noticed small edges of more peeking out from the tank top.

"Brooke, what are all of these lines on your back?" Out of curiosity she moved back one of the straps, halfway across her back. She gasped and loathed what she saw. Huge red scars crossed each other in jagged patterns. Some were stitched together with dirty black thread. Some were new and started bleeding when exposed to the outside air. Unable to hold back her curiosity, she pulled up the back of the shirt and found that her entire back was covered in these scars and wounds. Some, lower down, were becoming infected and leaked substance other than blood. Yet, when the fabric touched the wounds, Brooke gave no indignation to pain. She seemed to not feel anything at all. It was certainly strange, but where the bath completely healed the wounds from her struggle with SHEILD, these were near completely unaffected. She replaced the shirt and finished brushing her hair. Perhaps Thor was right. Perhaps she _was_ a goddess.

Without alerting her new companion, Natasha slipped out the door, and flew down to the infirmary. Unbeknownst to the doctors and nurses there, she stole some bandages, cleansing solution and a sanitary needle and thread. When she returned, Brooke was not on the bed anymore, but at a table, looking at a picture frame. She didn't dare to touch it but she wouldn't stop staring. Natasha faintly blushed when she saw it was a picture of her and Clint, both smiling, forgetting their worries for a moment.

"Brooke?" Said woman turned around and regarded the assassin expectantly. "I would like to dress the wounds on your back, if I may."

Brooke solemnly nodded, the first indignation she had given that she was understanding what everyone was saying. She turned around, pulled off the shirt, and moved her hair out of the way. Natasha wasted no time while she was willing to endure this. She began with the infected slashes, cleaning them with the solution until blood was all that seeped through. She took a pair of sterile scissors and cut the thread that previously held together some of the worst lacerations. She re-stitched them and realized that Brooke had not made a reaction in pain at all. She did not wince, or gasp, or yelp to signify that Natasha was hurting her. She didn't clench her fists or stiffen up to even show discomfort. She stood beside the bed, unmoving and soundless.

Natasha hated to admit it, but she was impressed. Even the infamous Black Widow wouldn't have been able to keep her cool for nearly as long as Brooke was. It was like she was even better at masking her emotions, or that she was so used to this that she felt nothing anymore. The non-religious Natasha hoped and prayed that it wasn't the latter. With Brooke's blood on her hands, she was finished. She quickly washed her hands off before wrapping the bandages snugly around Brooke's body.

"Finished." She breathed and gave Brooke a smile, hoping she didn't cause the woman, who was an inch or two taller than she was, any pain. Brooke returned the smile and went to put the tank top back on. But, Natasha gave her a fresh one. The other still had blood and infection percolating through the fibers.

Natasha led Brooke to the upper deck, where the others were sitting. Natasha sat down next to Clint, and Steve motioned for her to sit next to him. Looking to Natasha for approval, and gaining it, she lightly placed herself in the chair. On the other side of Steve, sat Thor. Across the table from them sat Tony and Bruce who were in discussion about an invention they were working on. Fury got their attention by clearing his throat obnoxiously.

"Well, now that we've got you all here, what the fuck are we gonna do about her?" He asked and pointed at Brooke. She peered at his finger curiously, most traces of her recent fear and anger gone.

"We should have her complete training exercises and see where her strengths lie. If she is able, as we had a sneak peek of in the Surveillance Chamber, she could help us in dealing with Loki."

"Good idea. The freak trusts her, and if we can get her on our side, we can use her to take him down. The emotional implications will crush him." Clint approved darkly.

"Fine. Brooke! Come with us." Fury said and left with her and the Avengers in tow.


	5. Chapter 5

When they arrived at the training gym, Clint and Natasha set up metal training robots to surround her as she stood in the center of the floor. The others viewed through a window that Brooke couldn't see through from her side. A robotic voice came over the intercom.

"Simulation begin in 3. 2. 1. Go."

The robots advanced on her. She stood for a moment before backing up into a corner, her eyes full of pure, abstract, unadulterated terror. The robots slashed at her with the knives they held. She shielded her face with her hands as they were torn. Natasha was about to shut off the simulation, when Brooke's expression changed drastically. Her utter panic turned to a maniacal smirk. She moved with blinding speed, crushing each of the robots with her fist, stealing their knives and using four of the knives at once to slash through the titanium plating on the bodies. Her body contorted to slash each weak point of the robots. As more came at her, the more she fought. She never seemed to tire, even after all of the robots were crushed, causing a substantial pile of metal and wire to pile up at her feet, which were still bare. She looked up at Natasha and Clint with a questioning gaze.

"Tasha? Clint?" She asked, confused for her situation. When she received no response, she moved to travel about the gym, picking up pieces of the robots, looking at them, pulling them apart, and putting them down again. Then she noticed the blood on her hand. She brought her opposite hand to stroke the wound, she felt no pain, and continued to stroke the wound. She looked about the gym again, not seeing a presence of anyone. That was when Fury and Bruce entered to confront her.

"You have done well. I would like to have you on board as a part of the Avengers Initiative. Do you accept?" Fury asked, showing no emotion in his taught features. Brooke stared at him again. She didn't blink. There were a few moments of coerced silence before she nodded. Fury left Bruce to look her over and get her to the infirmary to help her hand.

"How long have you been training to be able to fight like that?" He asked while a doctor was stitching her hand. She pondered his words for a moment, trying to speak to him in English. "It's all right. I know you can't answer." She was silent as he took down her vitals, and made up a medical profile on her. The doctor had left and Bruce was almost done when Brooke spoke.

"Loki." She said. Bruce looked up but didn't interrupt her. "Loki, to, speak."

"Are you saying that Loki will be able to help you speak English?"

Brooke nodded and looked at Bruce with pleading eyes. He thought for a moment then sighed giving in. He took her hand and brought her to Loki's cell again.

"You have returned?" The god asked when he saw them. Bruce opened the door and Brooke went inside to stand in front of Loki. She spoke in the Dark Elf tongue again.

"_Are you able to give me back my ability to speak English?"_

"_Yes. But I need time. Having my magic drained from using the scepter has taken its toll. Do you remember why you can no longer speak English?"_

"_No. I was not conscious. We both thought that I was dead."_

"_In my desperation to save you, I had to use a healing spell that was once used by the Dark Elves. It seems that the language of the extinct race was given to you in order to save your life and soul from the eternal Hel. However, it seems that it replaced your native tongue. It seems to have also allowed your body to heal wounds that do not have any emotional attachments for a short period of time."_

Brooke nodded. Loki spoke again, but a little more hesitantly, while gazing at her mended nails. He held a small black bottle.

"_Brooke, may I paint your nails again, like how I did in the past?"_

"_All right. Nothing too elaborate."_

That put a genuine smile on the trickster's face. He sat her down next to him and took her hand. That was when he noticed the stitches and bandages on her hand.

"_What is this?"_

"_They wanted to see how I could fight, and this is what happened. It doesn't hurt. Nothing ever does anymore."_

Loki was quiet as he painted her nails. It gave him enjoyment, and yet a feeling of helplessness that this was all he could do for her.

"_May I heal your hand?" _He asked when he was done painting.

Brooke nodded. Loki took her hand to his mouth and traced his tongue over the wound. With his saliva came a small wisp of steam. Bruce was greatly intrigued by Loki's healing magic.

"_How much time do you need?" _

Loki thought for a moment. _"I am going to need about a month, and by that time, I will only have enough magic and strength to use the tongue-switch spell once. Then my magic will be drained again."_

Brooke nodded as he blew on her nails to dry them.

"_Do you know how much I wept for you when I thought you were gone? I went mad. Which also led me to make a deal with the Chitauri. They needed me to give them the Tesseract and to lead their armies in a battle to take over the Earth. Knowing that there would be absolutely no way for you to return, after I thought my spell failed, I didn't care what happened to me next. I-" _

He was interrupted when Brooke slapped him square across the face. This made Bruce jump in his seat and brace himself in case the god should get angry and proceed to harm her. But he didn't. He looked back at her with a confused stare rather than one filled with vehemence.

"_Do not even dare to do that to yourself Loki! Do not re-live your pain just to tell me you missed me! There is absolutely no reason for it and I will not tolerate any self-loathing from you! It is disgusting, do you understand me?!"_

"Yes." He whispered in English.

Brooke glared as she sat back down. They stared at each other in a silent and motionless war for approximately ten minutes before Loki broke. He grabbed her and pressed his face into her hair, shielding his appearance. She softened at his admittance to having emotion and stroked his messy black shock. Bruce watched his shoulders jerk as he sobbed into Brooke's hair. He was amazed that anyone could invoke this reaction in the seemingly heartless god.


	6. Chapter 6

_If Tony's watching this, we'll never hear the end of it. _Bruce thought and grimaced.

However, the snarky billionaire was not watching Loki in his cell. He was absorbed in a diagnostic of Brooke's anatomical being. The hologram projecting screen showed an outline of her thin body with splotches of color dragged out upon it. The colors all showed up as a shade of blue, showing the highest readings of raw energy that the scanner was able to pick up without malfunctioning. But along with splotches of color, even larger portions of her body showed no color at all. Tony hypothesized that it was because whatever energy emanated from those points would be too high for the scanner to read. They were so high, in fact, that with a secondary scan, the machine broke down and began smoking.

_Why does this random chick hold such huge stores of energy? _He wondered. He zoomed in on one of the blue sections when Clint and Steve walked in arguing over something.

"With her around, he's nothing more than a tame dog." Steve argued only partially interested in what his companion had to say.

"It's practically cruel and unusual punishment to have her stay with him! He'll be so harsh to her that it'll be virtually torture! Being locked in a white room of SHIELD's for a year with no one to talk to and no medical care was torment enough, and now this! What the hell is wrong with this organization?!"

"Then why don't you go and take her from Loki's cage? I see nothing wrong with either leaving her there to talk to him or to take her out."

"Fine! You know what? I will!" Clint stormed out of the room. When he arrived at the glass cage, he found Bruce relaxing with a book, and Brooke was playing poker with Loki. Surprisingly, she was winning and looking very bored with the game. Loki looked equally bored, but his expression was tainted with frustration at loosing every hand.

"Brooke! You're coming with me!" Clint called entering the cage. Brooke looked to Loki, who spoke a new sentence in the Dark-Elf tongue. She looked at Clint, smiled and stood up to follow him. Loki was about to speak, but they were gone before he could say anything. Bruce remained though. He looked up at Loki with a look that plainly claimed: What can you do about it?

Clint dragged Brooke back to the training room where Thor and Natasha were.

"Ah! Lady Sigyn! How nice to see you! What has taken your attention on this fine afternoon?"

Brooke glared daggers at him when he used that name and reminded her once more.

"She was with Loki." Clint spat.

"With Loki? Why were you there? Are you all right? Did he harm you?" Thor asked looking her over. Brooke bared her teeth and glanced at Natasha wanting an answer for why the two were making such a fuss over her. She understood the annoyance and slowly growing fear as to why they were making such a big ordeal, coming off of Brooke in waves and moved to help her.

"Hey, Brooke, why don't I take you to meet a friend of ours? His name is Phil, I think you two will get along. Come with me." Natasha brought her to meet the agent, and he spent the next hour talking about the histories of each of the agents and avengers, spending an unusually long period of time explaining the backstory of Steve.


End file.
